2023 Bleecker Street
Rated: PG-13
Length: 1 hr 27min
Comedy ~ Drama ~ Sci-Fi
Directed by: Marc Turtletaub
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Zoë Winters, Jade Quon, and Jane Curtin.
“A UFO has crashed in my backyard, and has taken out my Azaleas and has destroyed my birdbath.”
Ben Kingsley stars as Milton, a 78 year old widower living alone on the outskirts of Boonton, a small town in Southwest Pennsylvania. He has two adult children, a son and a daughter. His daughter Denise (Zoë Winters), a veterinarian, lives in town and drops by often to help her Dad with things. His son Tim lives out west in California. Milton and his son have been estranged for years and don’t speak to each other. Denise is worried about her father’s declining mental state and wants him to see a Dr. but he won’t hear of it. “I’m fine, Denise! I don’t need a Dr.!” Meanwhile he is putting canned vegetables upstairs in the medicine cabinet and newspapers in the freezer.
He spends his days tending to his flower garden and attending City hall meetings, where he complains to the city council about the town slogan, “I think we ought to change our town slogan. A Great Place To Call Home is confusing because when somebody hears it, it can mean it’s a great place to call your home on the telephone. I suggest a clearer motto like A Great Place To refer To As Home, although it doesn’t have to be that.” And the need for a crosswalk, “We need a crosswalk on Trent Ave. between Frost and Allegheny. It’s a very long distance to walk when you’re in the middle and you need to cross, and you either need to get to Frost or Allegheny. It encourages jaywalking, and jaywalking’s an expensive ticket. I know I’ve gotten three, not to mention, it’s a great way to get you killed. Thank you.”
One night Milton is awakened by a very loud noise in his backyard. he goes to investigate and discovers an alien spaceship has crash landed, taken out his Azaleas and wrecked his birdbath. He calls 911 but they tell him that making prank calls is a felony and he should probably just go back to sleep. The next day he tells the city council at the town meeting and they don’t believe him either. That evening he discovers that an Alien has crawled out of the spaceship and up to the back door. Milton gets him a glass of water and a blanket, and eventually invites the Alien into the house. He cooks it breakfast and discovers all it eats are apples. Milton stocks up on apples and nurses the alien back to health.
Milton’s two friends from The City hall meetings, Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin), get nosy and discover that Milton was telling the truth about the UFO and the alien. They decide to call the alien Jules, and secretly protect him from everyone else while he repairs his spaceship. They discover, from drawings the alien gives them, that he needs seven cats to repair his spaceship. Jules found one, a roadkill with tire marks on his back, and they decide to help him find 6 more dead cats. They scour town and come up with 5 more, but still need one more. Knowing that time is running out before the Government agents come looking for Jules, they decide to expedite the process and Joyce offers up her old dying cat.
Jules is a sweet, sad, quirky, goofy, funny look at old people dealing with decline and normal lives interrupted by an Alien presence. Definitely a distraction from the daily routine of dealing with old age. Ben Kingsley is loveable as Milton, the old guy with the sweet heart. Jane Curtin is hilarious as the slightly grumpy Joyce and Harriet Sansom Harris is sweet as the old woman just trying to find her place.
I’ve seen it three times and it is a loveable sweet little film about aging, with an alien thrown into the mix to distract you from the fact that you are getting older.
That’s a yes for me. Three times and I’d watch it again.
Two Thumbs Up!
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